Trash fee meeting draws protest, but no vote

Friday

May 25, 2007 at 12:01 AMMay 25, 2007 at 12:32 PM

Landlords, tenants and concerned Salem residents showed up to the City Council meeting Thursday evening to protest Salem’s trash fee, only to find at the end of the meeting that their matter was not to be discussed.

Leslie Griffin/salem@cnc.com

Landlords, tenants and concerned Salem residents showed up to the City Council meeting Thursday evening to protest Salem’s trash fee, only to find at the end of the meeting that their matter was not to be discussed.

The City Council was not prepared to discuss the issue, because Councilor Michael Sosnowski had not drafted an appeal to present to the councilors. Although protesters were frustrated, Sosnowski has advocated removing the trash fee, so they were wary to be negative toward him.

“Although no legal changes occurred tonight, us being here shows support,” said Mike Allen, owner of the Red Lion Smoke Shop, one of the protesters. The next City Council meeting is June 14; protesters are hoping the issue will be addressed then.

The trash fee, which has been in effect since September 2006, requires non-owner occupied residential properties, commercial properties and multi-use properties to pay a monthly trash fee.

“They are working with the image of the absentee landlord who exploits tenants, figuring nobody would come to our defense,” said Esther Iwanaga, a Salem landlord and resident, during the protest held outside City Hall prior to the meeting.

Small property owners are struggling with whether to pass the fee on to their tenants or pay it themselves. “I don’t want to pass it on to my tenants,” said Iwanaga. “They are young, hardworking people trying to make a life for themselves.”

The monthly fee for non-owner occupied residential properties is $20 per unit, with a cap of $100 per building, commercial properties are charged $30 per unit, and mixed-use properties are charged per unit.

“This fee targets some tenants, some landlords and allows others to go without paying; it is unfair,” said property owner Jeffery Burrows, who is a part of Salem Trash Legal Alliance, a group dedicated to seeing the trash fee repealed by City Council.

“I have spent a great deal of money making my units as nice as they can be,” said Linda Locke, chairman for the Point Neighborhood Improvement Association. “This trash fee makes it hard to have any money left over to do what is needed.”

“If this was a trash fee, it should be based on volume,” said Iwanaga. “It is inequitable and unfair; I don’t know how they justify it.”

Tim Weisenberger promoted an alternative means for a trash fee at the protest. He would prefer to see a “pay-as-you-throw” method installed, charging Salem residents $1.25 per trash bag or sticker for curbside trash pickup. With free recycling pickup, he believes this would also encourage residents to recycle more.

The protest drew attention, much of it supportive, in front of City Hall Thursday evening, although the meeting did not address the issue.